President Barack Obama said as a candidate that states should decide their own medical marijuana rules, and it was reacted accordingly in 14 states where voters have legalized weed for medical uses.

White House Spokesman Nick Shapiro said he expected President Obama to end the policy when a new DEA Administrator is seated. “The president believes that federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws, and as he continues to appoint senior leadership to fill out the ranks of the federal government, he expects them to review their policies with that in mind," Shapiro said.

U.S Attorney General Eric Holder said his Justice Department will leave it to states to decide their own medical marijuana policy. He also said that raids by the Drug Enforcement Administration on medical marijuana dispensaries have ended.

Despite Obama's well-known views, federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided a few pot dispensaries in California two days after his inauguration, despite a state law permitting limited use and sale of medical marijuana. The raid came before Holder's confirmation, and it seems that no one in the new administration told the DEA to stop raiding some of the state's storefront dispensaries. The DEA has hit a few dozen every year since they began appearing in 2003.

Moreover Obama has his own personal example that supports this recent measure. During one campaign appearance, Obama recalled that his mother had died of cancer and said he saw no difference between doctor-prescribed morphine and marijuana as pain relievers. He told an interviewer in March that it was "entirely appropriate" for a state to legalize the medical use of marijuana "with the same controls as other drugs prescribed by doctors."